Training at Tata Cancer Hospital, Mumbai

My poor old blog hardly seems worth updating. I would sit down to write something, but someone would interrupt and all thoughts would go flying out.

In March and April, I was lucky enough to go for a two month training to Tata Memorial Hospital, Mumbai for Onco-Pathology training. It scared me initially, because I didn't think my kids would manage without me for a day. But H and my relatives were so supportive that I did go, with tears in my eyes...wishing the flight would get cancelled. But 2 months have passed and now I'm back, and the kids seem to have gotten along fine. God is good, especially to me and mine, I don't know why, but He always is, always have been.

 So when I reached Mumbai, it felt strange, but weirdly, I LOVED it. I loved the way people at Tata worked. They all worked so hard, so diligently. Nobody was looking over their shoulders, but everybody, doctors, nurses, technicians, IV grades, all just went about their work doing their job. I loved the way the hospital was so organized. No reagents in short supply. No power cuts. No unnecessary delays. No corruption apparently, no private practice on the sly (:P) It was work utopia. Their state of the art facilities and equipments make me salivate. And the pathology professors were so good at their jobs, and most of them were so nice! Dr Gujral especially, took some of us (trainees) out for dinner at his own expense.

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The work ethics of these non-believers humbled me. And I wondered how much I and the other Mizo doctors have to learn, in humility, professionalism and other things. Now don't think I'm bashing my fellow doctors, but the Mizo patients will tell you how nice and approachable most of the vai doctors are to them, while some of us are so rude to our fellow Mizos.

And talking of the Mizo cancer patients, they were living examples of courage and pure grit. I stayed at my allotted hostel in Chembur, but I would always try and spend my weekends at Mizoram House. Our prayer meetings were short but real. No lengthy sermons, but they were speeches from the heart. And you would realize how much people suffer, and yet how much unwavering faith they had in God. It humbled me. I don't know how I would handle having cancer, not as gracefully as any of them, for sure. Staying at Mizoram House was like being in a gospel camp, everybody behaved their best, all goodwill towards everyone else. Although I was initially a little apprehensive about being near the sick patients (I thought they would all be sad and suffering), when I actually stayed with them, they joked about their cancer, their treatment, and all took care of each other. Their sense of humour puts you at ease, and immediately make you feel at home. One point of importance I think is that they all tell me how tired they get at home, with so many well-wishers. Maybe we can learn to give people space and show them we care without tiring them out. Maybe send cards, letters, money, food and not insist on meeting patients face to face when we visit.

Contrary to above paragraph, this patient Actually doesn't mind me visiting!

Thu ka sawi e, te ka ti ve a.

Add caption

A tuarchhel ber, a huai ber.

Infit ber!

For fellow doctors

So actually living with the patients and their relatives made cancer more real, dark and scary. A diagnosis of cancer plunges a person into a dark abyss along with his family, condemning them to a life of chemotherapy, radiation and years and years of check-ups. Being a doctor, our hardwork and/or pure simple luck places us in a terribly vital position. For a pathologist, whether you give the right diagnosis of cancer in a biopsy or FNAC will allow the patient to be treated accordingly. If you say a non-cancerous tumour is cancer, the patient will be subjected to treatment which he doesn't need, and which will eventually probably kill him. If a clinician fails to refer or diagnose a case correctly, the patient will similarly have the same problem. So I think it's important to confer, to discuss with colleagues about our cases, and refer when something is out of our specialty. It is no sign of defeat to consult colleagues in these cases. At Tata, and other hospitals, there would be regular meetings of oncologists, radiologists, pathologists, surgeons, radiotherapists, gynaecologists etc to discuss cases. And these meetings are helpful not only for the patients but also for the doctors. After all, medicine is not something you pass and no longer have to ever study again. We have our textbooks, the world wide web. In difficult cases, I think we should defer giving diagnosis or treatment, till we read and know for sure what we're dealing with. Everyone can make mistakes, but making mistakes because of our egos, ignorance or carelessness is a sin I don't think God will easily forgive.

On the lighter side I also discovered Crawford market, which was a wholesale market with everything at slashed rates. This was a Capricornian haven, because, as Linda Goodman puts it, 'Capricorns like to buy the best things, but at a bargain.' Loved the malls too, but they were mostly just good to hang out at. Crawford market will always stand out as a place where you can get great handbags, toys, prints of famous paintings, most everything, and at a bargain!

I also loved the Elora Caves, or rather the ferry to the Caves. I never knew how much pull the ocean had on me, maybe because I had never seen one before!

So, my trip was a blessing, it taught me a lot academically. I attended conferences (Rs 5000 registration) for free, met many special people, learned lots of new techniques, and refreshed me emotionally. It also reminded me again of how much God takes care of me. For example, while other trainees got roommates who worked in different departments, I got one who was also in Pathology. So I could read her books, use her microscope, etc. I also was always safe everywhere I went, and treated mostly well by the residents and technicians, so I could smuggle back maximum information (I like to think, maybe other trainees feel the same way, haha). I also managed to co-write a scientific paper, for which the HOD assures me I would get first authorship. So yep, that's me, bragging, because things like that don't happen often!